10.12.2004

fear is a man's best friend?

One reason Wall Street Journal foreign correspondent Farnaz Fassihi's e-mail about Iraq has had so much impact is her status as a reporter for a mainstream, conservative paper. Among the more revealing moments in her piece is this: she observes that Iraqis tell her they would "take security over freedom any day" - even if that meant the return of Saddam Hussein to power.

And yet that principle - that forced to choose, people will prefer security even at the cost of freedom - is well-known to the Bush team. From various provisions of the Patriot Act onward, to raising the terror alert status every time Bush dips in the polls, to Cheney's continuing invocation of terrorist attacks, to the insinuations that the election of Kerry would encourage such attacks, creating feelings of insecurity and fear at the cost of freedom has been a central pillar of Rove's election strategy.

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